This easy caramelised onion gravy recipe is easy to make. Made on the stove or gravy in pressure cooker is delicious over mashed potatoes, biscuits, beef or anything else you might want to cover in YUM.
If you’re looking for an onion gravy recipe that knocks everyone’s socks off, this is it!! Whether you want to make this during Thanksgiving, Christmas, or just as a treat with your favorite Ninja Foodi roast recipe it’s great. Give it a whirl and let us know what you serve this with at your house. (affiliate links present)
What is onion gravy made of?
The basics are diced yellow onions, butter, and either beef broth and/or heavy whipping cream if you want it to be creamy like we did here. To get going you’ll want to grab a cast iron skillet. You can use a “regular” pan but there’s just something about a dutch oven or pan like this one below. It will give you the browning and added flavors you’ll want.
Adjust the seasonings to you liking but we are all about a decent amount of garlic for sure. Tweak as you go along so it is perfect for your tastebuds and everyone in your home. Grab a bunch of onions, broth and a bunch of seasonings and let’s get going on this one.
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Caramelized Onion Gravy Ingredients
- Plenty of diced or sliced onions. I typically use yellow but you could use some red onion for a mix too.
- Butter
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper, and other seasonings you love.
- Thyme and sage
- Beef broth
- Worcestershire sauce
- Heavy whipping cream will thicken it up and give it a creamy nature.
Using a pan like this you’ll want to have a wooden spatula on hand. You don’t want to use metal on it because it will scratch. You want to keep it what they call seasoned at all times. If you are new to using something like this, just remember to not scrub or add soap. Just wipe as clean as possible with paper towels or a sliced potato can be used to remove food.
Salisbury Steak Gravy Recipe
There are SO many things you can pour this over. It will make your meal go from good to OH MY Over the top. Our easy salisbury steak recipe is just one of them for sure. I mean we love it so much it is a must on our Thanksgiving table. We serve it over Instant Pot turkey and pressure cooker mashed potatoes.
The beauty of making this homemade onion gravy recipe is that you can adjust the amount of pepper and thickness.
Back in the day my mom always made giblet gravy from the neck and things inside the turkey. When I got married that was a hard no from my husband so I came up with something new. Onions make everything better and are such a cheap addition to any meal that adds texture and flavor.
That is a choice you can make actually. I prefer diced myself but if you wanted it really chunky and for them not to break down quite as much you could slice them. The larger they are the crunchier they will remain when it is cooked down. You could even use more than one variety if you preferred.
Um butter is better with everything. Not only does it add more flavor but makes everything creamier than just using olive oil to saute onions or anything else for that matter.
Yes, but it isn’t nearly as good as making it from scratch yourself this way. If you are in a pinch and/or want to make a sauce to serve over meatloaf or turkey we have copycat directions on how to make it just like that without preservatives.
Heavy whipping cream is used to thin it out but still keep it thick at the same time. This ingredient will give it a richness you would expect. But it will give it some ooomph to make more out of the simmered down base. You can use the drippings from pork, chicken or beef from your fall apart sirloin tip roast too. This is a quick step by step but there is an entire printable recipe at the bottom of this post as well.
How to Make Gravy from Drippings
- Place the olive oil and cold butter in a skillet over medium heat and once hot. Add onions and cook for about 5-8 minutes until they are well golden and browned. Add a bit of broth as needed to prevent them from burning.
- Add the seasoning and stir to coat the caramelized onions with brown sugar.
- Allow to cook onions for another minute or so, then add the Worcestershire sauce and remaining broth or beef stock (some prefer red wine). Increase heat to medium – high heat and bring to a boil again.
- Reduce heat and simmer until broth is reduce by half. Add the heavy whipping cream and allow to come to a boil (increasing heat if necessary).
- Reduce and simmer for 3-4 minutes stirring frequently until your desired gravy texture is achieved. You add diced meat to make it into turkey neck gravy at this time too.
- Taste and adjust seasoning, add more if desired for extra flavor.
in pressure cooker
If you want to make this faster, follow our Instant Pot sausage gravy recipe. That includes meat though so this would be a vegetarian alternative. Items you will need to get started are as follows. Note that of course you can substitute some of the liquid for cold water instead, use vegetable broth instead of beef, etc….
What to Serve with Onion Gravy
- Instant Pot beef tips recipe you can make with this
- Serve on top of air fryer biscuits for breakfast
- Use inside our Crockpot meatballs and gravy dish
- Another thing we love this over is bangers and mash!! If you have never had this before it is a fun dish that kids love too.
Can I freeze leftover gravy?
You can!! It will last up to 4 months if stored properly in ice cube trays, freezer bags, or sealed containers. Allow to come to room temperature when ready to use. Reheat in microwave or in a pot on the stove.
Nutritional information with calories, saturated fat are listed below. This accounts for exact ingredients in box, nothing extra if you do add something else.
Onion Gravy Recipe
Equipment
- 1 pan
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place the olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat and once hot, add onions and cook for 5-8 minutes until well golden. Add a bit of broth as needed to prevent them from burning.
- Add the seasoning and stir to coat the onions. Cook for 1 minute, then add the Worcestershire sauce and beef broth. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer until broth is reduce by half. Add the heavy whipping cream and allow to come to a boil (increasing heat if necessary).
- Reduce and simmer for 3-4 minutes until your desired gravy texture is achieved. Taste and adjust seasoning, as desired
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This brown onion gravy recipe was delicious! I can almost taste the “YUM” factor already—excited to try this easy and mouthwatering brown onion gravy!
I served this delicious gravy over mashed potatoes and chicken last night and everyone was raving about the flavor! Great recipe.
This was so flavorful and easy to make. It was amazing over mashed potatoes!
oh good
I have some sirloin with the gravy’s name on it! I can just see the beef and mashed potatoes covered in this gravy!
There is nothing better than mashed potatoes and gravy! I know this is meant as a side dish but I eat this as a main dish – Yum!
This homemade onion gravy was amazing! I want to put it on steak, pork and chicken too.
I’ve just started using cast iron cookware, so I gave this recipe a try. Making gravy from scratch is a much healthier way than using processed store-bought ingredients too. So good. Thanks for sharing!
Really good. No heavy cream in the fridge so I used 3/4 C whole milk mixed with 1/4 C melted butter. Used EVOO and better than bouillon beef flavor. I also added a large clove of pressed garlic a minute before adding broth.
Yummy and easy to make.
So glad and thanks for letting us know about a substitution you could make.
Would have been more stars if the olive oil weren’t in this. It took over on the flavor. We’ll make it again and omit the EVOO.
If you don’t care for that taste you could use vegetable oil I suppose, we use olive in almost everything and love it.